Yeah I travel lots. In fact I travel way too much. Most of my travel is for my full time job. The job part of that statement gets in the way during the travel part. I have been doing it for 16 years or so now. But it feels like 60 some days.

The other travel I do for vacations and photography workshops is the fun travel. Although even the travel part of that statement is starting to get old.

So one of the questions I hear most often when I tell folks I am off on another business trip is “are you taking your camera?” Well yes and no is my answer usually. They look at me as if I just told them their underwear was on backwards. Then comes the explanation part. I have to explain what I mean when I say these thought provoking (aka dumb ass) statements.

My work trips are not, normally, very long. In other words I normally don’t travel longer than 5 days a week. I usually leave on a Monday (always fun with the other 63 million people traveling on the same day) and return on the Friday. Given that, I have to consider the following points when deciding if I am taking a camera or A Camera:

How much “free” time will I have?

Where am I going and does it matter?

Am I working days or nights?

So lets first look at the last part of my statement above where I mention if I am taking a camera or A Camera. Some folks out there don’t consider a camera to be a camera unless it is a DSLR with all kinds of gizmos and gadgets and expensive stuff attached to it. Other folks, like me, know that the best camera is the one you have with you. So when I say a camera I mean either my phone (which I always have anyway) or a small point & shoot. When I say A Camera, I mean a DSLR. This is not a discussion about gear or stuff so lets leave it there shall we.

So back to my considerations. First off, how much free time will I have. Most times that is not an easy question to answer and sometimes it falls into the “am I working days or nights or both (at the same time).” If I know ahead of time I will have some free time, then the DSLR light bulb may come on. And if I have nights available that can sometimes be the deciding factor for the DSLR (camera phones and point & shoots are crappy for night shooting).

However I think the biggest deciding factor is where am I going. If I am heading to Calgary for example, and know I will have some time to head out to the Rockies, then the DSLR gets the nod. But if I am heading to Somewhere, PA and I have never been there and I have no time to research it, then most likely the DSLR will stay safely tucked away in its bag and either the point & shoot will come out or just the phone will be used.

If we stop for a moment and look at travel for photography workshops. The fun stuff I was talking about earlier. When I sign up for a workshop, I always know that the folks that are running the workshop have been to this location(s) at least once before the actual workshop. They have taken a couple of images (5 or 10 thousand) and have done their research about where to find the best, and coldest, beer. So where was I going with this? Oh yeah…research. Travel photography is about the only genre of photography that you really can’t do a lot of research for. I mean if you know exactly where you are going, you can check out places and so forth. But usually your time at a place is limited, so you have to jump in, feet first. You can’t worry about weather, light or locked gates. You have to hope that everything cooperates and you walk away with some shots that worked out. Rarely does it happen, but when it does, you thump your chest and exclaim to the world “I Photographer…you…mere mortal.”

Travel photography can be stressful if you let it be. You happen to end up somewhere you have seen online, and you think to yourself…”self, I need to get that shot of the Milky Way coming out of the top of the mountain like I saw in National Geographic.” You work your magic and still all you have is a bunch of burry dots on your iPhone. You need to be practical. Or steal a perfectly good shot from another photographer. (not that I am condoning that…just saying…)

For me, doing photography on work trips is never a lot of fun. I have had some moments, like a couple of years ago, when I was invited to shoot some ice climbers with Paul Zizka and the Northern Lights decided to put on a show. But carrying all the stuff for work trips and then having to haul a camera bag and a tripod along as well can be a pain, mostly in the back and shoulders. But I love doing photography on work trips ‘cause it is my stress relief. When I have had a rough day, if I know I can get out, even for an hour or so, and go shooting, it puts a big grin on my face.

If you are planning a vacation and want to turn it into a photography vacation, then you need to do your research, and have some patience. Depending on where you are going, the time of year, the weather and how long you have, will all be factors in whether you walk away with some great shots, or frustration. One of the biggest mistakes that folks who are going on a one or two week vacation make, is going somewhere with pre-conceived notions about what they can expect to find because this is what they saw online. If you get somewhere and the weather is sucky, don’t be sad. Pull out the camera condom and shoot away…err photograph I mean. Sometimes nasty weather can lead to great shots, or expensive camera repairs. If you get somewhere and the gates are locked and you forgot the bolt cutters, don’t sweat it. The bear was probably sleeping anyway.

Travel should be a joy. It should be educational and rewarding. And it is. But it is like anything, you have to be prepared and you have to be able to adapt. Go on, travel and have fun! Take lots of pics and throw 98% of them in the trash. But the 2% you keep…well they will be magical. And most of all, look away from the camera and enjoy the place you are in. For you might never return but your memories will always be there.

This morning I went for a short walk to watch sunrise in the town of Gersau, where I stayed overnight. Later in the day, before leaving the Lake Lucerne area, I stopped in the town of Merlischachen to capture the awesome clouds to the west of the lake.

I had the day off today here in Switzerland, so I drove up to Zermatt to view the Matterhorn. On the way I saw some dramatic light near Vevey and stopped for a short time. There is a beautiful museum in the town as well.

I am currently in Germany for a couple of days. This afternoon I had an opportunity to go for a short walk in the village of Bulstringen. There is this amazing old Evangelical church in town. I could not find any historic info on it, but it is very cool!

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About Me

My journey in photography started off somewhere around 1992 when I was planning a trip to Australia to visit a pen pal there and spend 3 weeks touring part of the country. I was living in a basement apartment at the time. I was talking to my landlord one day and mentioned I was heading there. He asked me what I was taking for a camera. All I had at the time was a Kodak Disc camera! He was shocked to say the least! He went inside and came out with a Pentax 35mm camera body, 2 lens and some other stuff all in a bag. He offered it to me to take. While being very grateful, I was also concerned as this looked to be very expensive gear. He told me if I broke it, I owned it! Sounded like a fair deal to me.

So off I went to Australia. I managed to royally screw up the first roll of film loaded into the camera. Someone there showed me how to do it properly and I was good to go. When I got back from my trip I took the film to a local photo store and got back 7 rolls of prints. I had taken some great photo's! I was shocked! I went back to the store and spoke with the people there about 35mm cameras. They pointed me at Canon and told me it was great stuff. So I bought a body and a couple of lens and began playing around.

I took a few weekend courses and did a couple of workshops over the next couple of years, along with getting married, starting a new job and buying a house! I continued to buy photography gear and one day my wife mentioned to me that if I really wanted to continue on my quest I should make an effort to make money at photography. She suggested people photography. I was appalled! People? They are a pain in the butt I said! A short time after that a neighbor on our street who knew I did photography came to me and asked me if I would photograph their wedding. oh gawd! They had very little money and could not afford a pro. After weeks of sweating, and gaining more grey hair the day finally arrived. I had done a bunch of reading but I was still stressed to the max. The day went okay and I waited nervously to get the prints back from the lab. They were wonderful and the bride and groom were very happy!

So this started 10 years of wedding and portrait photography. I started my own business, took night school courses for years and obtained my Commercial Photographer certificate. I bought and constantly upgraded equipment. And then the digital age arrived.

At first I was reluctant to dive into the digital realam. As the next couple of years passed and the technology improved I could almost for see what was going to happen in the smaller wedding market. Everyone was buying P & S cameras and everyone was becoming a photographer. Couples started asking for a CD of their images and wanting their weddings photographed for almost free. Along with working full time and traveling a lot, I finally made the decision to shut the business down and spend more time with friends and family.

In the past several years I have kept up with what is happening in the world of photography and I have done some fabulous workshops in the Nature, Landscape and Wildlife areas of photography.

I am now teaching courses out of my home and having a blast! I am also hosting a Meetup group for Hamilton photographers. I also belong to an amazing online group of photographers known as OFFBEAT. Through them I have done more fabulous workshops and met some amazing photographers!